Ignition apparatus



Aug. 28, 1934.

Filed Jan. r 25 1952 2 shams-sheet 1 Aug. 28, 1934. H, L. HARTZELL 1,971,406

IGNITION APPARATUS` Filed Jan. 25. 1932 2 sheets-sneer 2 7 a/ ae 36 J6 z v.sz

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Swim/nto@ Mz 1MM El W Patented Aug. 28, 1934 4ulti-'riso srlvlils PATENT oFFlc-.E

1311.44 y mamon' mm'rus Herman L. Hartaell, Anderson, Ind., assigner, b1. I'

to, to General Motors Corpomeine ration, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Dela- Aliplioltion January 25, 1932, Serial No. 558,613

Claiml.

ously through the use of a single circuit breakerv l0 lever which controls the simultaneous discharge of a plurality of ignition coils.

paratus is especially desirable for engines having relatively large combustion chambers where the simultaneous occurrence of sparks at various 16 parts of the chamber are desirable in order to explode the charge of fuel mixture in an efficient manner.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of an ignition timing ap- 28 paratus embodying the present invention the distributor rotor and head being removed.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and showing also-longitudinal sectional 80 views of one of the distributor rotors and one of the distributor heads required in the ignition system embodying the present invention.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views taken resp'eetively` on the lines 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5 of 85 Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram illustrating the present invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, 20 designates an ignition timer housing providing a bearing 21 for 40 a shaft 22 which drives a cam 23 having 8 lobes,

if for an 8-cylinder engine. The cam 23 cooperates with a rubbing block 24 attached to a lever 25, the bifurcated arms of which pass a nonconducting sleeve 26 (shown in Fig. 5) which pro- 45 vides a hub jdurnalled upon a pivot post 27 attached to a plate 28 which is supported within the housing 20. Thev lever is provided with two, spaced, aligned apertured bosses 29 through which passes a pin 30 having its head riveted over 50 or upsetat 31 to secure to said, bosses 29 the arms or flanges 32 of a light weight sheet metal lever 33. The flanges 32 of the lever 33 are attached also to a tubular boss 34 by a rivet 35. Thus there is provideda fabricated lever com- 55 prising the parts 25 and 33, the former being Such ignition ap- (Cl. 12S-148) rugged yet having a relatively little moment of inertia because none of its parts extends a substantial distance from the pivot 27. The sheet metal portion V33 which extends a substantial distance from the pivot 27 has relatively small mass 60 and hence does not add materially to the inertia on the lever as a whole. The lever portion 33 is' connected by leaf spring conductor 36 with an ear 37 of a bracket 38 and this ear is in turnv connected by a conductor 39 with aterminal 40 lo by which the lever may be grounded as indicated at40ainFig.6. 'Ihe bracket 38 which is pivoted aroimd th enlarged portion 41 of the stud 2'1 includes a' pair of upstanding ears 42 and 43 shown in Fig. 70

5. The ear 42 has a plain hole 44 for receiving a threaded shank 45 of a screw 46, and the ear 43 has a plain hole 4'7 for receiving the threaded end 48 of the screw 46. 'I'he threaded shank 45 is threaded through a tapped hole ina nonconducting block 49 carrying screws 50 and 51 secured by nuts 52 and 53, respectively, and carrying contacts 54 and 55, respectively, and which are engageable with contacts 56 and 57 carried, respectively, by screws 58 and 59 attached to lever portion 33 by nuts 60 and 61, respectively. The contact 54 is connected'by wire 62 with a terminal 63 to which condensers 64 and 65 are'connected by wires 66 and 61. respectively. Contact is connected by wire 68 with a terminal 69 to which wires 'l0 and '71, respectively, connect condensers 'I2 and' 73. The reason f o'r using two condensers instead of one connected with each terminal 63 or 69 is that the required capacity can' be provided by the use of condensers which are standard for ordinary automotive ignition.

The ear 42 is provided with anl extension 80 to which a screw 81 attaches two leaf spring mein-` bers 82 and 83. The ember 82 bears' against the left hand side of t e block 29 as viewed in Fig.` 5 and is bifurcated so that it may straddie the screw 46 and tend to urge the block 49 toward the right as viewed in Fig. 5. When the nut 48a cooperating withl the threaded part is loosened, the screw 46 may be turned to adjust 1m the block 49 longitudinally with respect to the axis of the screw 46. This movement of the block is provided in order to bring contacts 54 and 55 carried bythe block 49 into horizontal alignment with the contacts 56 and 57 carried by the lever 106 33. The spring 33 bears against a cylindrical portion of the block 49 concentric with the screw 46 and tends to maintain the block 49 in the position into which it is moved due to the cooperation of the contacts 56 and 57 with the contacts 110 rses 54 and 55. It will be observed that when the cam 23 releases the rubbing block 24, the spring 36 is released to cause the lever 33 to move the contacts 56 and 57 into engagement with contacts 54 and 55 respectively. If contact 56 should strike contact 54 before contact 57 strikes contact 55 it is evident that the block 49 will be moved before both pairs of contacts are in engagement. 'I'ne spring 83 bears against the block 49 to hold the block 49 in the position in which it is moved due to the automatic alignment of pairs of timer contacts. z Hence, when the cam 23 engages the rubbing block 24 to separate the pairs of contacts they will be separated at practically the same instant.

As the rubbing block 24 wears away it is necessary tc make adjustment of the circuit breaker so `as to bring the rubbing block nearer to the cam. This is accomplished by loosening the screws and 91 passing through slots 92 and 93 respectively, said slots being coaxial with the center of the pivot post 27. While the screws are loosened, the screw driver blade is applied to a slotted disc 94 received by a slot 95 in the bracket 38 and having a shank 96 eccentric with respect to the center of the disc 94 and pivotally connected with the plate 38 as shown in Fig. 3. The turning of the disc 94 will cause the bracket 38 to ro tate about the pivot 27. When the plate 38 has beenv located in the desired position to give the desired amount of contact separation by the cam 23v the screws 90 and 91 are tightened to clamp the plate 38 lto a metal supporting plate 95 to which the condensers are attached and on which the condensers are grounded. The plate 95 is secured by screws 96 to boss 97 provided by the housing 20.

The cam 23 drives a distributor rotor block 100 carrying a conducting rotor 101 connected with a center button 102 and distributing to alternate distributor posts 103. The block carries a conducting rotor 104 connected by a brush 105 vwith a conducting ring 106 and operating to distribute to alternate distributor posts 103. The button 102 is connected with a terminal 107 and the ring 106 with a terminal 108 which as shown in Fig. 6, are connected by wires 109 and 110, respectively, with secondary windings 111 and 112 of the ignition coils 113 and 114, respectively, having primary windings 115 and 116 connected together in series with a switch 117 connected with a battery 118 grounded at 119. This switch 117 connects the battery 118 also with primary windings 125 and 126 of ignition coils 123 and 124, respectively, connected by wires 129 and 130, respectively, with terminals 107er and 108a, respectlvely, of an ignition distributor, the parts of which are identical with the rstdescribed distributor. The parts of the second distributor are indicated by similar numbers with the ailix a.. The distributor comprising parts 100a to 108a is driven by a shaft 22a and may be mounted upon a support similar to that which supports the dmtributor ccnprising parts 100 to 108. This support is represented in the diagram by the circle 20a. It will be understood that the support 20a does not enclose any timing mechanism since the Liming mechanism for all of the distributors is enclosed within the housing 20 as has been described.

Whenever the cam 23 acts upon the rubbing block 24 to separate the pairs of contacts 54, 56 and 55, 57, the coils 113, 114, 123 and 124 will be discharged simultaneously since the pair of contacts 54, 56 carry the primary current of both `spark gaps 151.

coils 123 and 124 and the pair of contacts 55. 57

ycarry the current of both primary coils 113 and 114. Hence, four sparking impulses will be generated simultaeously and these sparking impulses will be delivered through wires 109 and 110 to terminals 107 and 108, respectively, and through wires 129 and 130 to terminals 107a and 108a respectively. From these terminals the distributor rotors 101 and 104 will-distribute sparking impulses to two posts 103 of one distributor, and the rotors 101a and 104a will distribute sparking impulses to two posts 103e of the other distribu tor. It will be seen that the two terminal posts 103 which are receiving impulses are connected with two spark gaps 150 of an engine cylinder 152, and that the two terminal posts 103a then re ceiving sparking impulses are connected with Thus the four gaps or plugs 150 and 151 receive sparking impulses at substantially the same instant. These spark gaps may be placed at suitable points in the combustion chamber in the engine cylinder indicated at 152 in Fig. 6,

It will be noted that each rotor conductor co operates with eight different distributor posts therefore the disclosed apparatus is suitable for an eight cylinder enginehaving four spark gaps in each cylinder. The two distributor shafts 22 and 22a are driven in synchronism preferably by one engine shaft 160 connected with shaft 22 by bevel gears 161 and 182 and with shaft 22a by bevel gears 163 and 164.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows.

1. An ignition apparatus for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines comprising in combination; a current source; a plurality of sets of ignition coils, each set of coils having the primary windings connected in series and the secondary windings leading to separate distributor arms equal to the number of individual coils; and means for connecting each set of coils with the current source and adapted to simultaneously interrupt all of the primary circuits.

2. An ignition apparatus for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines, comprising in combination; a current source; a plurality of sets of ignition coils, each set of ignition coils having the primary windings connected in series and the secondary windings connected to separate distributor arms equal to the number of individual coils: a stationary contact for each primary circuit; an arm carrying contacts cooperating with the stationary contacts for connecting each set of coils with the current source; and means for actuating -the arm to simultaneously interrupt all of the primary circuits. Y

3. An ignition apparatus for internal combustion engines requiring a plurality of sparking impulses simultaneously at each explosion period, comprising in combination; a plurality of sets of ignition coils, each set of coils havingy the primary windings connected in series; pairs of circuit breaker contacts, each pair controlling the discharge of one set of coils; a circuit breaker lever carrying the movable contacts of all pairs of contacts; a cam for operating the lever and separate distributor arms equal in number to the number of individual coils and each arm being connected with the secondary winding of an ignition coil.

:loy

4. An ignition apparatus tor multi-cylinder combustion engines comprising in combination; a battery; a plurality ot sets oi ignition coils, each set of coils having the primary windings ccnnected in series and the secondary windings ccnnected to separate distributor arms equal to the number of individual coils; and circuit interrupter means to open all of the primary circuits simultaneously, said means including a breaker lever carrying a contact for each primary circuit and a pivoted member insulatin'gly supporting relative stationary contacts for connecting the primary windings with the battery, said pivoted member being adjustable when engaged bythe lever contacts to adjust the stationary contacts relative to the lever contacts -to insure simulta neous interruption of the primary circuits.l

5. An ignition apparatus for internal combuspulses simultaneously at each explosion period, comprising in combination: a plurality o! sets oi ignition coils, each set o! coils having the primary windings ccnnectedin series'and the secondary windings connected to separate distributor arms equal to the number of individual coils; pairs ot circuit'breaker contacts, each pair adapted to interrupt one o! the'primary circuits: a circuit breaker lever carrying the movable contacts of all the pairs ot contacts; a block insulatf ingly supporting the relative stationary contact oi the pair of contacts; means to automatically adjust the stationary contacts whereby the separation oi the contacts is effected practically simultaneously; and means Ifor operating the lever.

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ltion engines requiring a plurality oi sparking im- 

